Fence-tie.



w. A. MARTIN. FENCE m.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1908.

918,569. Patnted Apr. 20, 1909."

UNITD $TATES PATENT @Fiiiilhl.

WILLIAM A. MARTlN, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HA [1F TO EDWINH. EHRIOH,

OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

FE NOE-TIE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 20, 1909.

Application filed June 30, 1908. Serial No. 441,094.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l ILLIAM A. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State 5 of Michigan,have invented a new and useful Fence-Tie, ofwhich the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to fence ties, a class of devices the office ofwhich is to bind togather and hold firmly the horizontal and verticalelements of a wire fence at the points where they cross each other.

The objects of this invention are; the prcvision in a merchantable form,of a device of the above-mentioned class, which shall be inexpensive tomanufacture and facile in application; a device which shall hold theintersecting elements of a wire fence firmly, yet Without mutilatingthem or impairing their tensile strength; the provision of a tie which,by its shape and convolutions, shall grasp the vertical or stay wire ina peculiar and novel manner, bend the intersecting elements into a formadapted to promote the strength of the union, and reinforce thehorizontal or line wire, the stay wire, and the tie itself.

With these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter more fullyappear, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangementof parts hereinafter dcscribed, delineated in the accon'ipanyingdrawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it beingunderstood that various changes in the form, proportions, size andminordetails of the structure may be made without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts throughout 7 the several figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation. Fig. 2 arear elevation.

Fig. 3 a bottom plan. Fig. 4 an end elevation.

The fence tie herein described, is of the staple type and is drivenabout the interseating wires and forced into a shape effective to bindthem together. As thus formed, it consists of a spiral having itsconvolutions in close contact, but at no point rentrant laterally uponeach other.

The application of the tie to the stay and line wires causes them to bebent; the line wire assuming a forwardly projecting bend at 1, the staywire assuming a rearwardly projecting bend at 2, the two bends settinginto each other at the intersection of the wires. The bonds aresufiiciently pronounced to form a hold for the tie wire, as hereinafterdescribed, but not sharp enough to weaken the wires. Likewise, indetermining the curve to be assumed by the spiral tie, I have regard forthe question of economy of material yet making it a considerationsecondary in in'iportance to the strength of the tie.

In the accompanying drawings 1 have shown a horizontal element of a wirefence, or line wire 3, and a vertical element or stay wire l, bent asheretofore described, and clasping them, the spiral tic of my invention.I shall describe this tie by beginning at its inner end 5 and followingits convolutions to its outer end 6.

T he inner end 5 is forwardly bent about the stay wire i and thecontinuation of this inner and passes to the rear of the stay wire at inclose proximity to the line wire 0. It is then bent forward and passesdownward across the line wire 3; thence rearward, passing behind andacross the stay wire at; thence forward and upward crossing the front ofthe line wire 3. Continuing, it passes upward and rearward, engaging theback of the stay wire 4. In the quadrant last above described the firstconvolution of the stay wire is completed and the second convolutionbegun. This second convolution from the point where it begins to itsterminal 6, is in close contact with the convolution previously made; atno point, however, crossing it laterally or becoming ro-ntrant laterallyupon it.

From the back of the stay wire a, as above described the secondconvolution passes downward and forward, crossing the front of the linewire 3 thence downward and rearward across the back of the stay wire 4.The outer end 6 is then bent forward about the stay wire l, in the samemanner as the inner end 5. At all points where the first convolutioncrosses the line and stay wires, it bears laterally in the firstinstance and vertically in the second against the projecting bends inthose members, and both convolutions of the tie wire are in verticalalinement where they cross the tie wire and in horizontal alinementwhere they cross the line wire.

I invite close scrutiny upon the disposition made of the outer end 6 andthe portion of the second convolution included in the quadrant precedingthe outer end 6 and I regard the particular form shown, to be ofimportance, as I shall endeavor to show hereinafter.

Of the various kinetic forces which mar the appearance and impair theutility of a wire fence, I know of none more potent than the efforts ofhuman beings to scale the structure. These efforts result in the mostperfect downward thrust that I am aware of, and probably represent themaximum strain imposed upon a fence in a downward direction. I havedesigned this tie with a special regard for strains of this character.It will be seen that the portion 7 is brought into close proximity tothe line wire 3; that'the portion 7 is reinforced against upwardyielding by the second convolution above it; that the portion 7 restsupon the rearward bend 2 in the tie wire; and that the inner convolutionis braced below the line wire 3 by the clench of the end 6 about staywire 4, and by the disposition of the portion of the final convolutionin the quadrant preceding the end 6.

An upward thrust is frequently imparted to the wires of a fence by stockengaging the line wire with their horns and by the efforts of swine toforce a passage between the laterals. This upward thrust is resisted bythe contact of the lower part of the inner convolution with the rearwardbend of the stay wire 4, the disposition of the end 6 and the portion ofthe tie included in the quadrant preceding, furnishing an importantassistance. To the same end, the two convolutions crossing the stay wirei above the line wire 3, together with the disposition of the end 5 areof importance.

Opposed to a force tending to shove the stay wire i to the left, are,the effect of the forward bends at 5 and 6 about the stay wire 4 thebearing effect at S, of the single convolution against the forward bendin the line wire 3 and the effect of the double, contacting,convolutions upon the line wire 3.

Opposed to a force tending to drive the stay wire to the right, are, thebearing of the inner convolution against the forwardly pro jecting bendof the line Wire 3; and the reinforcement afforded by the outerconvolution; and the friction between the single convolution and theline wire at 8. Against forces in any direction, the bearing of theforwardly and rearwardly projecting bends in the line and stay wires,against each other, is of moment.

It should be noticed that the ends 5 and 6 project in the samedirection. By this construction it is possible to construct a fencehaving no projecting arts upon the side of the inclosure next to t 1estock, thus reducing to a minimum, the chances of the animals becominginjured through contact with the fence.

It will be seen that when the line wire 3, and the stay wire 4 are bentand brought together by the tie as hereinafter described, the ends 5 and6 being clenched about the stay wire 4, a union is effected which willwithstand forces from any direction and of any intensity which it is thepractice of fence designers to consider so too, it is regarded of momentthat the spiral form of the tie re sults in a compactness and strengthnot disclosed by an examination of the prior art. i

Having thus described my invention, my claims are as follows i In a wirefence tie, a line wire a stay wire; the line wire having a forwardlylprojecting bend and the stay wire a rearward y projecting bend, attheir point of intersection; a spiral tie wire having its inner endforwardly bent about the stay wire, the continuation of the inner endpassing to the rear of the stay wire and in close proximity to the linewire; thence forward and downward crossing the line wire; thence acrossand to the rear of the stay wire; thence forward and upward crossingline wire; thence rearward across the stay wire and in close contactwith the previous convolution of thetie wire; thence forward anddownward crossing theline wire and in close contact with the previousconvolution of the tie wire; thence across and to the rear of the staywire and in close contact with the previous convolution of the tie wire,terminating in a forward bend about the stay wire; the inner convolutionbearing laterally against the forwardly projecting bend in the line wireand the rearwardly projecting bend. in the stay wire; the contactingconvolutions alined where they cross the line and the stay wires, in aplane parallel to the plane of the line and the stay wires.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM A. MARTIN.

/Vit'nesses JOHN D. MORTON, JOHN F. BENDER.

